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A barrel cactus may look interesting and it can be enticing to want to grow one inside your very own home. There are several varieties, the most commonly known one being the Golden barrel cactus with it’s beautiful yellow flowers and spines; another one, like the Red-spined barrel cactus comes with vibrant colors of red, but all of them are beautiful in different ways. Since these cacti can grow to be such a large size, the question that sometimes comes up is do they make for good indoor plants?
Barrel cacti make very good houseplants. They are one of the most popular cacti for growing indoors. These cacti can grow quite large after many years, but that isn’t a problem since they are slow growers. It can take as much as 10-15 years for them to reach maturity.
Barrel Cactus Make Good Houseplants, But How do You Care For Them?
There are several varieties of barrel cacti and they all fall within either the Echinocactus or the Ferrocactus genus. The Echinocactus varieties have fuzzy, softer-looking spines (but don’t touch them since they will hurt you) and the Ferrocactus varieties have spines that are more rigid and have a more thorny appearance. They originally come from the Southwestern US and Mexico and thrive in the arid deserts of those regions.
When they are young, barrel cacti are almost completely round but as they get older, they take on a more oval or barrel appearance. They are most commonly sold in garden centers when they are small in size and since they are slow growing cacti, you don’t have to worry about them growing too large for indoors for many years. You will need to repot your barrel cactus every few years when it outgrows its current pot.
If you’re growing these cacti indoors, you need to place them in the warmest, and sunniest part of your home. A barrel cactus should be kept in a sunny location for several hours each day. They love lots of sunlight, but don’t expose them to full sunshine until they have been “hardened”. You can harden your plant by incrementally exposing it to a little more sunlight each day. After a week or two of gradually “hardening” your plant, it should be able to handle the full sun coming through your sunniest windows without getting sunburned. This is especially important if the plant hadn’t yet been exposed to full sunshine.
Since we live in a colder climate, all of my cacti are grown indoors and are kept healthy by the use of LED plant lights.
If you don’t have enough sunlight in your home you might want to do the same. Amazon has many different LED plant lights that you can check out if that is the case. This is one that I like since it has a timer built into the system.
How Often Should You Water a Barrel Cactus?
You don’t have to water your barrel cactus very often. Only water it when the soil is completely dry.
Like other cacti, they can get root rot if they are overwatered and if the soil remains wet for too long.
You will have to water more frequently during the warmer, summer months. Water will evaporate faster from the heat of summer and the plant will have a greater need for moisture too since it is its growing season. This is true even when you’re growing your barrel cactus indoors as a houseplant.
You will not have to water your cactus as often during the winter months since the soil doesn’t dry out as fast and the plant will not be growing as much, if any.
The best way to tell if your cactus needs water is to do the finger test. If the soil feels completely dry, then it should be watered.
You can also tell if the soil is dry by using a soil moisture meter. We have an article talking about how they work and why you need one, and another article talking about how to use one.
If you are interested in using one of these meters, there are several on Amazon. This one is similar to the one I use.
Some of The Different Varieties of Barrel Cactus That You Can Grow Indoors:
- Blue Barrel, Ferocactus glaucescens Height 22” (55 cm), : Spines: yellow (there is also a spineless variety), Cactus stem: bluish-green
- California Barrel, Ferocactus cylindraceus Height 4-8’ (1.2-2.4 m), Spines: yellow to red, Cactus stem: green
- Colville’s Barrel, Ferocactus emoryi (also called Ferocactus covillei) Height 8’ (2.4 m),Spines : red, with a coating of grey, cactus stem: green (can be purple when young)
- Fishhook Cactus (also called Arizona Barrel cactus), Ferocactus wislizeni , Height 3-6’ (91-183 cm), Spines: red, with a coating of grey, spines are “hooked”, Cactus stem: green
- Golden Barrel, Echinocactus grusonii, Height 2’ (61 cm), Spines: yellow, Cactus stem: green
- Fun fact: Golden Barrel cacti typically tilts to the south-southwest. That is why it’s also know by the name of “Compas cactus” in some places. If you’re in the desert where they grow and need to go in a certain direction, just look to these cacti to help you go the right direction.
- Red-Spined Barrel, Ferocactus cylindraceus, Height 3’ (91 cm), Spines: yellow, white and red, Cactus stem: green
- Texas Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus hamatacanthus,Height 2’(61 cm), Spines: yellow, red & brown, cactus stem: can be green or purple
Can a Barrel Cactus Bloom Indoors?
A barrel cactus can bloom, but it often takes 10 to 15 years of growing first. It’s very rare for these cacti to bloom when grown indoors as a houseplant, but when they are grown in their natural environment, or if you can mimic the conditions needed, they will bloom.
Barrel cacti in their native environment will often bloom in the spring. (The blooming season does vary some between varieties.) The blooms are on the top of the plant and are usually yellow in color. But the flowers can also be other colors depending on the variety.
Barrel cacti grown indoors as houseplants most likely won’t bloom, but even so, they are still fun plants to have and grow in your home.
If you would like to learn more about other types of cacti and how to care for them, we have a post here about how to make a Bunny ear cactus bloom, and another one here about how to make a Christmas cactus bloom in time for Christmas.
This video has some very good information about the Golden Barrel Cactus and also about cacti in general.
This post was written for cactus-central.com and is not permitted to be used on other sites.